


Fidelius Outline

by lily5lace



Series: Fidelius [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Friends to Enemies, Gen, Hogwarts House Sorting, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Marauders' Era, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-24
Updated: 2017-10-24
Packaged: 2019-01-22 14:01:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12483272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lily5lace/pseuds/lily5lace
Summary: I've decided to upload my outline/plan for this fic, which contains both a broad outline as well as small scene snippets. If you see something you would like turned into a chapter/expanded upon, or if you have ideas, please, feel free to let me know!





	1. 1959-1970: The Pre-School Years

**1959/60:**

November 3, ’59: Sirius’ birth

Unknown ’60: Pettigrew’s birth

January 9, ’60: Severus’ birth

January 30, ’60: Lily’s birth

March 10, ’60: Remus’ birth

March 27, ’60: James’ birth

* * *

 

**1963:**

_May:_

Lily shows first blatant signs of magic, scaring the hell out of her parents. She and Petunia watched a cartoon where a character had his tail stuck in a light socket, and Lily thought it was hilarious. Her parents come upstairs to find Lily, hair puffed out like crazy, flashing different colors with her little finger in the socket.

* * *

 

**1967:**

_January 30 (Lily's birthday):_

Lily gets a music box with a ballerina on it. Money has been tight, and this was her grandmother’s. It gives it sentimental value, and she knows it, but it doesn’t change the fact that Lily is seven and wants stuff. She climbs up on top of the garage, her favorite perch, and sits with the music box’s tinkling music, and the ballerina begins to move, dancing for her.

_July:_

By this time, Lily has learned that she can make things move, and in a fit of pique at Petunia, who wouldn’t give her a record she wanted, she purposefully removes it from her hands with magic. They all stare at her, because when things like this happen, the lights flicker and her hair flies and stuff, but she’s calm. Her mother reprimands her for doing that on purpose.

“Imagine if someone had seen! Your… talent, Lily, dear, it’s not normal. You can’t let people know.”

“I don’t do it when there are people around! Usually…”

“Lily! How long has this been going on?”

“Erm… a while. M-my birthday?”

“It stops, here and now. It’s not rig- not safe. You’re not to do it any longer.”

“But-”

“Lily.” Her father now. “Listen to your mother.”

“I… yes, mum.”

* * *

 

**1969:**

All the pre-Hogwarts stuff with Severus, etc.

* * *

 

**1970:**

_February:_

A freezing, slush-covered Severus shows up at the Evans’ home asking if he can stay a bit. Lily doesn’t ask questions, but after some prying from Petunia and her mother, he lets slip that his alcoholic father had thrown a chair through the window and kicked Sev out. He’s given a standing invitation to the Evans’ house.


	2. 1971-1972: First Year

June:

Lily’s Hogwarts letter arrives, carried by Professor Flitwick. Sev’s arrives by owl the following day, and a week later, when his mother first discusses going into Diagon Alley for supplies, his father goes into a rage, leaving Sev staying at Lily’s again. It’s then that they find Petunia’s letter.

September:

All of the usual introductory school stuff happens. Also, after the Sorting, all of the Muggleborn students are given the use of an owl to send word to their parents about their House, etc. They are told that the owl will return with a response by morning. 

The second class of the year is Charms, and Lily loves it. She’s paired with Remus, and they immediately understand each other. She thrills in having a partner who is as studious as herself. That Sunday night is the first full moon of the schoolyear (NB this is true; September 5, 1971.) The he third time he misses class due to “illness”, Lily goes to see him in the Hospital Wing, and brings him the Charms notes, promising that she’ll help him catch up with anything he needs, and says that if he’s sick a lot, she’ll be his Charms partner forever. “Then you’ll never have to worry about falling behind.” Remus is touched.

. . . . . . . .

The third week of school, Lily has her first really bad experience with prejudice. She was wandering down the path to the greenhouses when some Slytherins heading to Care of Magical Creatures pushed her off it into the mud, with taunts of “Stay down there where you belong, Mudblood!”

A Hufflepuff named Miriam Strout comes along and helps Lily up. She tells her very seriously that she should get the professor to heal her scrapes, explaining that she wants to be a Healer just like her mum. She’s not very observant, constantly tripping over things and nearly hitting Lily with her flailing arms.

Alice is very concerned with her state and fusses over Lily, while Potter shouts an “Oi, Evans! What in the name of Merlin happened to you? Have a bad run-in with a mud puddle?”

Miriam speaks up before Lily can retort, saying “Some Slytherins, actually. They said it would match her blood.”

Potter turns an ugly shade of puce as gasps and questioning noises spread through the surrounding students. Lily lets out an exasperated breath. Potter breaks the whispers with an unexpected “Who?!”

“What?” Lily and Miriam answer in tandem.

“Who was it? That pushed you?”

Both of them indicate that they don’t know, but Lily asks why he wants to know. He looks at her incredulously.

“So I can make sure they never bloody well so much as look at you again!”

“Mister Potter, language!” Professor Sprout, a kindly, round little woman bustled through the door, jolly even when reprimanding.

The lesson began and the incident was all but forgotten… two days later, however, three second-year Slytherins made quite a spectacle of themselves dancing uncontrollably on jellied legs in the Front Hall.


	3. 1972-1973: Second Year

Dungbombs and ladies’ underwear were the “atmospheric accents” of choice on the Hogwarts train in September of 1972. Dungbombs, a classic among rebellious students, were ignored by most of the children—however, the unmentionables miraculously removing themselves from the trunks of their respective owners served to usher in an era where the Marauders, as they came to be known, reigned supreme. This event, while memorable in and of itself, would have a still more important outcome: it earned the insolent foursome their name.

During detention for this particular trick, aging caretaker Apollyon Pringle, a fan of some rather medieval disciplinary methods, acquired a deep loathing for the boys. While preparing to string up some poor fourth-year vagabond so that he could “really see the floor he was supposed to be cleaning,” Pringle suddenly felt a chill run up his spine. Thinking perhaps the headmaster, a sniveling kindly fool in his opinion, had stopped by to ensure he was using appropriately “humane” methods— Old Polly (as the boys called him) would have choked on the very word— Pringle whipped around, preparing his best grimace and placation, but—nothing. Too much nothing.

Greasy hair flew as he looked wildly about for his charges. He nearly stumbled forward with the sudden wind at his back, tripping over his nasty overcoat as he spun, prepared to take out whatever child was moving so quickly in his detention. He stopped abruptly. The five boys [A/N not sure why this says five... I'm assuming I included the older student being punished in the number] sitting atop the trophy cabinet stifled laughter as his already swarthy face slowly turned lavender, then puce. Finally James couldn’t contain himself and out slipped a muffled “I reckon he might’ve blown a blood vessel or ten, mates!”

Pringle was stopped from using cruel and unusual punishment on a fellow wrongdoer by the boys, prompting him to call them “meddlesome marauding maggots.”

“Meddlesome? Maggots?! Oi!”

“What does marauding mean?”

“Can you really blame him?”

“I don’t mind the sound of that, really. Nice bit of alliteration. And Marauding has a nice ring to it, don’t you think, mates? Like the Musketeers… Marauders.”

“The bloody what?”

“I still don’t know what marauding means!”

“Dumas, James? How cultured.”

* * *

 

On Saturday the 23rd, the first full moon, James wakes up the others. They discuss how Remus is "ill" so often. Sirius mentions that he has a theory, but says it’s mad.

“If it’s true, then I need to have a serious discussion about misconceptions with whoever wrote the book about magical afflictions in the library.”

“You’ve been to the library, mate?”

* * *

 

James is made a reserve chaser on the Quidditch team, after a tryout in which one of the current Chasers resorted to shoving him off his broom to stop him from scoring. The Captain, a Keeper, tells James that despite his talent, he’s having him practice with them, allow him to grow and learn a little.

“I need a Chaser who can stay on his broom, Potter. You’ll grow into it soon enough.”

In mid-January, the Chaser that knocked James off his broom at the tryouts is kicked off the team for excessive use of force. James is bumped up to a full player, and Gryffindor pulls ahead from a losing streak to win the cup.

* * *

 

In February, as the Marauders’ fame grows, helped along by their new name, that a few worshipful firsties were more than happy to spread, those who used to be known are growing resentful- not to mention the fact that girls, even those in the years above, are showing interest in the talented fiends.

* * *

 

On the last day of school, James, Sirius, and Peter are discussing, in feverish whispers, how they could help Remus with his lycanthropy, having confronted him about it in December. They had been researching it all year, and now they had decided in earnest to try to help. At the start of the conversation, other students were around, but James wanted to talk without Remus, so he began, trying in vain to get the others to understand what he wanted.

Finally, in frustration, he said, “Oh, you know, his- furry little problem.” This garnered a strange look from an older girl, who rolled her eyes at James’ grin. Comprehension dawned, amusement on its tail. The rest of the conversation, his “furry little problem” was referred to in those terms whenever possible. And so a legend was born.

* * *

 

Summer. Severus is not thrilled to be back at home, but he endures happily enough— it means seeing Lily every day. Early in the summer, Severus’ father, not happy having his tween son underfoot, is grumbling about Sev’s presence when he slams shut a door without looking— directly into Severus’ face. Severus immediately rushes down to the Evans’, where Lily greets him with an excitement that quickly turns to shock. When he explains what happened, Lily is furious, ranting and raving about police and abuse, her hair sparking and crackling. Severus tells her to calm down, says that it was an accident.

“One too many,” Lily grumbles, but lets it go. Severus confides that he considered hexing his father even though they aren’t allowed to do magic out of school. Lily is curious, and when she asks him what jinx, he asks if she can keep a secret. She raises her eyebrows at him and he concedes, a small smile appearing on his sallow face, his swollen nose showing what would become perhaps his most distinctive and derided feature.

He tells her about creating a toenail growing hex, and she’s fascinated by the idea. They spend the summer creating ideas for spells. Lily has a talent for Latin, but isn’t quite as fervent about the idea of finding the words for maximum effectiveness as Severus, and, with no opportunity to test success, prefers to create one fanciful charm after another.

Petunia has her first boyfriend, and Lily, in typical little sibling fashion, is disgusted. One evening, they’ve had a picnic dinner and are sitting under their tree on the bank of the trashy river, when she complains to Severus about their laughing and cooing and how the other day, she thought she actually heard them snogging! They have a good laugh about it and lie in comfortable silence, Severus turning to look at her periodically. Eventually he realizes she’s fallen asleep.

It’s nearly dark and he’s starting to wake her when the sounds of a giggling couple sound from the other bank. The pair stumbles into his line of sight, hands linked and faces close together. [A/N: I'm not sure if I intended this couple to be Petunia and her boyfriend or not... thoughts?] Severus looks down at his and Lily’s joined hands, a strange expression on his face, but is startled out of his reverie by a moan from across the river.

His cheeks flushing, he glares in their general direction. He imagines that he could somehow block out the world, so they could have their peace and quiet. Lily begins to wake, so he busies himself packing their things. As she takes her baskets, she raises her hand to stifle a yawn, sparking an idea. As she meanders back on the path, he glances back at the other riverbank, mouthing “Muffliato” and swishing his imaginary wand through the air. Lily calls for him and he goes happily, content with his lot.


	4. 1973-1974: Third Year

Everyone is rapidly changing.

Remus is even thinner, accentuating his gaunt form, while James has turned broad-shouldered and gangly. Sirius has gained some muscle, but little height, while Peter is as dumpy as ever.

Lily started menstruating over the summer, and now has to wear a bra. She’s not thrilled; even though it was awkward being the only girl who wasn’t a “woman” yet, she preferred it to this.

Snape has grown taller, meaning new robes, but his frame hasn’t filled out at all, accentuating his bat-like appearance.

It must be noted that this summer, Lily kept in touch with some other friends, namely Marlene, Mary, and Alice. Marlene and Alice, third generation halfblood and pureblooded, respectively, spent the summer together, as their houses are close. Mary and Lily sometimes talk on the phone, because Mary’s parents are both Muggleborns.

* * *

 

The Marauders play a prank at the Welcome Feast, which would become their new-school-year tradition.

The entire Slytherin table had their plates thrown in their faces. The only thing that incriminated them was the “Love, the Marauders” scrawled on the bottom of every dish. This catapults them into instant fame among the other houses.

During the detention they were given for that particular stunt, James shares some of the research he conducted over the summer— that animals are exempt from the effects of a werewolf bite. Not only that, but a werewolf is unlikely to kill another non-human.

He flippantly suggests that they get a pet wolf for “Moony” (as he jokingly dubs Remus’ inner wolf) to play with. Sirius, however, who’d been looking deep in thought, snaps his fingers.

“Animagi!”

“Gesundheit!”

“Whosiwhatsit?”

“Are you mad?!”

Sirius explains that an animal wouldn’t know to control the werewolf… but a human in animal form could. Remus begins to argue vehemently against the reckless danger of that when the young Squib caretaker, Argus Filch, appears and tells them to stop lollygagging.

Peter, who’d dropped the trophy he was polishing in fright, muttered “wish he’d warn us before just popping in like that” in embarrassment. Remus agrees, noting that it would be nice to be able to tell where others were so he could be certain they weren’t overheard talking about his secret.

Sirius chimes in with “like some kind of tracking device? There might be a charm for that, mate…”

James interrupts with “more like a tracking _map_ … so you could see where they were, you know?”

The others make sounds of agreement. James seems to consider the idea a moment longer, then “Blimey. I like that idea. A map of Hogwarts— we could mark the secret passageways we found, and the hidden room, and all the false stairs…”

And so the idea for the Marauders Map was born.

However, after the next full moon, where Remus returns battered and exhausted, the other three decide that learning about Animagi is the priority— their friend needs help.

* * *

 

James is Chaser again this year, Sirius joining him as a beater.

* * *

 

Snape and Lily are among a select group of students (the rest of whom are Ravenclaws) who take three electives.

Herbology: Hufflepuffs. Generally no pairs needed, work alone or in large groups.

Charms: Hufflepuffs. Lily-Remus

Transfiguration: Ravenclaws.

Astronomy: Ravenclaws.

Defense against the Dark Arts: Slytherins.

Potions: Slytherins. Lily-Snape

History of Magic: Mixture.

Arithmancy: Lily, Sirius, James, Snape

Ancient Runes: Lily, Remus, Snape

Care of Magical Creatures: Lily, James, Sirius, Remus, Peter.

Divination: Snape.

Muggle Studies: Peter.

* * *

 Severus begins to truly immerse himself in Slytherin life, after spending two years on the outskirts. Sixth and seventh years Narcissa and Lucius, respectively, take him under their collective wing even as he becomes the brains behind the brawn of the third and fourth years.

* * *

 

Evans had always been of mild interest to James; a Muggleborn, Gryffindor, intelligent, and best friends with his least favorite Slytherin. Beyond that, they really didn’t interact.

For James, that all changed one day in early spring. It was raining, pretty heavily, and had been for hours. James is sitting, bored, in an upstairs corridor because Sirius has detention and Remus is trying to tutor Peter. He’s looking out the window when he sees a figure out by the lake. He rubs the fog off the window to find that it’s Lily, waltzing slowly in the rain, her wand manipulating the raindrops into streams and shapes. He’s entranced by the way her hair, dark from the rain, is plastered against her head, the bouncy curls turned into long tendrils that sneak round her limbs.

He gets up suddenly, determined to move closer, and is heading to the Great Hall to go outside when Benjy Fenwick, another Gryffindor in their year, calls his name.

“You’re not going to believe it, mate. Mary’s been attacked! They said it was Avery and Mulciber, those fourth years from Slytherin…”

James only half-listens from there. Then, he realizes that that’s a perfect reason to go see Evans— Mary is her friend. Clapping Benjy on the shoulder, he runs to tell Lily.

When he gets there, he finds it difficult to speak at first, from the way the water drips down her skin, and how large and dark her eyes seem, and how pale her skin looks against her water-darkened hair. When he explains to her what’s happened, he’s further enchanted by the way she seems torn between fury and concern, her hands clenching round her wand, two spots of color appearing high on her cheeks, before she relaxes, looking stricken.

“Is she alright?”

James, not prepared, stutters for a moment “I— uh—dunno?”

He’s hardly even finished when she takes off, and he follows her, saying that Pomfrey’s the best [A/N: Do you think Pomfrey is too young to be nurse at this point?] and she should be fine, etc, etc. His hovering annoys her, and by the time they reach the Hospital Wing she snaps, turning to him, causing him to almost knock her over.

“Potter, would you _please_ sod off now? Mary is hurt and you’re giving me a headache.”

She stalks off without an answer. When he tells Sirius about it later, his response is just “Bad luck, mate.”

Unperturbed, as Lily disappears up the dormitory stairs, James states, “I’ll marry her.”

Sirius rolls his eyes, snickering, knowing that Lily will be forgotten within the week. And to some degree, she is. But James still finds his eyes roving towards her more often, and there’s an affection there that didn’t exist before.

* * *

 

As Gryffindor leads the pack going into the Quidditch Cup come May, James and Sirius become aware of the female attention in a way that they hadn’t before. At the afterparty for the match cementing their place in the Finals, both boys become a bit tipsy, James ending up with his first girlfriend, Sirius with his first hookup. This begins a series of short “relationships” for James and a constant string of dalliances and booty calls for Sirius.

* * *

 

James and Sirius come upon Snape in the halls, and taunt him.

He had been staring intently out the window, and James looks over his shoulder, sneering when he sees that Evans and her friends are playing in the Lake.

He mocks Snape’s unrequited love for her, and Severus spits out an “at least she likes me, I’ve got a chance. Unlike you and your fat head, Potter.” (Sev is still learning how to respond eloquently when caught off guard.)

James is pissed, but Sirius steps in, insulting Snape’s nose and commenting that slimy, cowardly Slytherins could never catch a Gryffindor.

“Incapable of love, you lot are.”

“Not surprised you’d say that— no one loves you, do they? Your own parents can’t stand you. You’re lucky you haven’t been disowned, and Regulus… well, I think you know. He’s so ashamed he can’t even look at you. You think you’re a true Gryffindor but you’re not— if you were, you wouldn’t be here right now, would you?” [A/N: I'm not sure why he says that Sirius wouldn't be there right now...]

Sirius is furious, and completely forgoes his wand to lunge at Severus, but James grabs him.

“Oi! Cool it.”

Sirius stills in James’ hold, but the fire in his eyes does not dim. Snape tries to brush off the shiver that runs down his spine at the madness in his eyes.

Whomping Willow incident happens. James is livid when he finds out what Sirius has done— a Gryffindor to the core, such a stunt was uncalled for, and he goes out to the tree.

He just barely makes it in time, and he can hear Remus throwing himself at the door on the other side, hear the splintering wood and the desperate cries as he smells a victim near. Once he’s managed to drag Snape away, Severus pulls himself from his hold, hating the way Potter is trying to make sure he’s alright. Humiliated but self-righteous, Snape rants at James about his so-called “skills” at Quidditch, his enormous ego, the way his pranks aren’t doing him any favors, how immature he is, and ends with a final blow about Lily— she doesn’t like you because of all the things you’re so proud of.

This degrading speech somewhat softens James’ ire at Sirius. In the morning, when Remus is alerted of the situation, he is deeply ashamed. Sirius is shocked at the self-loathing coming from him when he finds out he almost hurt Severus. Remus is not as angry at Sirius as he should be, overwhelmed in self-blame.

Sirius is distraught, and tries to get Remus mad at him. Remus does get angry for a bit, “How could you? How could you be so thoughtless? Merlin, Sirius, if he’d have died… it would’ve been all our necks.”

The next few weeks are rocky for the Marauders, Peter is torn between who to comfort, James firmly supporting Remus in Sirius’ presence. They are brought back together after Sirius is injured by a rogue Bludger in a Quidditch practice. James is so worried he can’t hide it, and Remus, who was never that mad to begin with, tells James that Sirius really is sorry, and that there’s no use dragging it out.

“You know he can’t control his temper. It’s the one Black trait he could never quash. We can’t fault him for it anymore. He’s learned his lesson.”

* * *

 

Scene from DH where Lily defends Remus and tells Snape that she can’t stand Avery/Mulciber.

* * *

 

Severus and Lily are inducted into the Slug Club after they choose to brew the Draught of Living Death. Here Snape begins to develop his extra methods. Lily helps.

* * *

 

Lily is walking down to see Hagrid, with whom she has formed a tentative friendship over Nifflers, which she finds adorable, and Rabastan Lestrange, a rather dull sixth year Slytherin, catches sight of her and begins to follow, obviously looking to cause her harm. Snape curses his tongue to the roof of his mouth, (permanently, as it were, Madame Pomfrey had to remove it) and alters the incantation until the Langlock Curse is invented.

* * *

 

Narcissa Black is graduating this year, and she’s very fond of Severus, as is her fiancé. She gifts Severus with an owl, as well as giving him a letter from Andromeda, who’d eloped with a Muggleborn.

“She is no longer a part of our family, but I felt I could do this one last act for her. I hope you’re not planning on following in her footsteps, Severus.”

Her cool gaze pierces him, and he is unable to answer, not knowing whether he can promise her that.

“I suggest you forget all about Andromeda and her radical ideas. They can only lead to pain.”

With that pearl of wisdom, she is off to graduation. The letter is an apology from Andromeda for her lack of communication and a request for him to write her whenever he wishes. She tells him that she hopes that he will come to his senses and fight for Lily the way she did for Ted.

“Love is a magic far more potent than any curse. You needn’t be strong to feel powerful, knowing that. Brilliance alone will not be satisfying for you, Severus, I can tell. She means too much to you. Don’t make the same mistakes I almost did.”

Severus’ eyes fill with tears and he crumples the paper in his fist, overcome. How can he? It isn’t safe, and she doesn’t love him that way! He throws the paper down, pressing his fists to his eyes hard, reveling in the black spots the pressure causes, before shooting to his feet and grabbing the letter, striding over to a candle, and watching it burn.

* * *

 

Lily goes away for the summer, and they use his new owl to commiserate, both of them lonely.


	5. 1974-1975: Fourth Year

At some point during the year Bertram Aubrey, a fifth-year Ravenclaw, gets his head blown up to enormous size by James and Sirius for disparaging Muggleborns, and in the process making crude remarks about the relative uses for pretty ones like Lily Evans.

* * *

 

Cementing the tradition, the Marauders perform another prank.

This year the walls appear to be overrun with rats and other rodents, causing mass panic. Lily flips out at first, but soon realizes it’s a prank, and catches Severus’ eye across the Hall. The two then entertain themselves by turning the critters different colors and causing them to enlarge and blow up.

The Marauders get weekend detention for their stunt after several people, many of whom were first-years, hurt themselves trying to get away. Despite missing half of Quidditch tryouts, James and Sirius are both re-appointed to the team, James being made Deputy Captain. Lily’s friend and one of her dormmates, Marlene, makes the team as a Chaser, so Lily joins Gryffindor’s large and enthusiastic cheering section.

Lily had only ever done poorly in one subject— flying. In first year, Lily was never able to get her broom to come up into her hand. In fact, it continued to move away from her. She finally just picked it up, but was unable to get it to leave the ground. She told Madame Hooch that the broom must be defective, but James was able to get it to fly no problem. This pissed her off. She took it back from him roughly, pushing off the ground and promptly crashing into Alice Blishwick. She never learned to fly.

* * *

 

This year the tradition of a Halloween Ball is reinstated— it had been cancelled during the last opening of the Chamber of Secrets and was never revived.

The Ball is open to fifth through seventh years only. All of the Marauders would attend, as well as Alice (with Frank, a year ahead) and Emmeline Vance. Lily was invited by Tiberius McLaggen, the elder brother of a boy in their year, and felt unable to say no, as he asked her in public.

He wasn’t such a bad fellow anyway, nice-looking and intelligent, but he was a bit self-centered, and didn’t appear to have very many progressive ideas. Lily was uncomfortable from the moment they met up in the Entrance Hall, as it was clear that McLaggen had been hitting the drink already. She begged off dancing after the opening waltz, in which he stepped on her feet several times before she was saved from him by Remus.

After quickly thanking Remus, she dashed off to a table far from the dance floor, preferring to observe her date making a fool of himself.

Xeno Lovegood and Pandora Cornfoot [A/N: this is a real last name from the HP universe, since Luna's mom's maiden name isn't known] soon joined her— Lily had not met Xenophilius before, but was aquainted with Pandora, a sweet, quirky Ravenclaw in Lily’s year. She had the largest blue eyes Lily had ever seen, and had a curious habit of looking at people without blinking when they spoke. As the other tables filled with couples who had become tired of dancing and gone for refreshments, more oddities and outcasts joined them.

Quirinus Quirrel, a stuttering Ravenclaw, and Lottie Fletwock, a broom-hating Hufflepuff appeared, having a rather one-sided argument about the use of brooms by Aurors, and their usefulness for defense.

Mundungus Fletcher comes by, with Daisy Hookum, a muggle-obsessed third-year Gryffindor, and Lily observes with wry amusement as he darts his hand into Xeno’s pocket, only to try (and fail) to disguise a yelp as he pulls out a strange-looking animal figure that snapped at his hand.

Daisy giggles hopelessly in the background, saying “Come on, Mundungus, you said you’d show me your collection of lightboobs.”

“Light _bulbs_ , Daisy, darling. Lightbulbs.”

Lily has to snort at this. She’s never understood the basic hopelessness of wizards with Muggle terms.

When Greta Catchlove and Dahlia Fleur-Peri head in their direction, Lily gives up and heads for the door, not wanting to hear shrill conversations about the effects of cheese on the vocal chords.

She passes the Marauders lounging near the punch table as their respective dates dance rather tipsily together. James catches her arm and tells her rather awkwardly that she looks nice. Remus kindly agrees, Peter just nodding his head with a flush. Sirius manages to pull a laugh from her as he pushes himself off the wall, bowing and telling her how she puts the stars to shame. James shoves him off balance, a bit upset at being outdone, and procures a lily from his wandtip.

“Milady.” Lily looks torn, but accepts it.

“Thank you, boys.” It doesn’t escape James’ notice that she addresses all of them, and he deflates slightly. “But if you’ll excuse me, I need to be off to bed.”

James offers blindly to escort her, but she refuses him as his date comes barreling over, pulling him off to the dance floor.

“Not necessary, Potter, but thank you. You two have fun.”

Lily exits the Hall, letting out a relieved sigh as the doors close behind her. She doesn’t encounter another soul until passing the large row of windows into the courtyard on the second floor. There, Sybil Trelawney sits, staring out at the moon behind her large glasses. When Sybil sees her, Lily shifts uncomfortably, never quite at ease with the strange older girl.

“Ah, Lily. How was the dance?”

Lily squirms a bit under her oddly transparent gaze. “Erm, fine, Sybil. Bit boring. Did you go?”

“Only for a moment. The auras in the room overwhelmed me, so I came to observe the positions of the stars.”

“Oh. I see. Well, I’ll leave you to your observing then.”

Sybil stops her before she can pass, eyes not quite focused on her, her voice taking on an odd, dreamlike quality that reminds Lily of a poorly modified memory that the DADA professor had shown her last class.

“Tumultuous is the path you tread, child.”

Lily begins to stutter awkwardly. She knew Sybil fancied herself a bit of a Seer, but this was too much.

“Stay it straight, continue thus, and through the Darkness which surrounds you, Light shall live and triumph still.”

Lily had had enough of the strange girl’s “prophecy” and pulled away.

“Well, thank you for that advice, Sybil, but I must go to bed.”

Sybil kept her eyes on Lily, focusing more now. “Do not disregard my words, little Evans. I have seen dark things for you. You must fight it.”

Lily mumbles another apology, hightailing it away from her. Merlin. Severus had said that Sybil was often in his Divination class last year, making dire predictions for everyone’s futures, but she didn’t think it was that bad! The seventh year was clearly unbalanced.

* * *

 

Lily has made good on her eleven-year-old self’s promise— she is still Remus’ partner. He’s sick again, and she decides to bring him some of the work she’s done on a project that he missed the instruction for before breakfast. As she rounds the corner leading to the hospital wing, she hears Hagrid and Madame Pomfrey talking about Remus. She stills, unsure of whether or not to continue, when Hagrid speaks more loudly.

“Nearly smashed through the door, he did. I thought he’d gone and gnawed off his foot. Summat must have got too close last night— his wolf was awful restless.”

Lily ducks back around the bend, leaning against the wall. It’s true. This echoes in her head as she sinks to the ground. Werewolf. She considers this, and something in her recoils from it. But she battens that down.

Remus, she thinks. This is Remus. She realizes as she thinks about his sweet temperament that he can’t control what he is, what happens, anymore than she can control her parentage. This brings hot tears to her eyes, as she realizes that if anyone were ever to find out what he was, he would be run out of Hogwarts on a rail. The prejudice against lycans is far worse than against Muggles.

She is disgusted with herself for thinking differently of him for even a moment. Like Severus. The thought comes, unbidden to her mind, followed by the knowledge that the other Marauders must know. They accept him so fully, she wonders a bit, her view of the other three boys unquestionably altered. She resolves not to treat Remus any differently, sure that she can, and should, do so. Especially if Potter can do it, a little voice seems to whisper in the back of her mind. She is almost squished by Hagrid’s lumbering form coming round the corner.

“Merlin’s beard, Lily! What’re you doing sitting there?”

He lifts her up by the elbows as she clutches her parchment to her chest.

“Erm, nothing, Hagrid. I was coming to see Remus when I realized that I hadn’t figured out how I was going to explain the assignment to him. I ought to have a plan, right?”

Her voice is too high, and Hagrid seems puzzled by her statement, but he claps her on the back all the same, sending her flying into Professor McGonagall, who had apparently also been visiting Remus.

“Miss Evans?” McGonagall’s voice was not cold, though unamused. “What are you doing up here so early?”

“Professor! I’m so sorry, I- I’m bringing Remus some things for our Charms project.”

“Ah.” Professor McGonagall rewarded her with a rare smile, appreciating both the scholarly habits and kindness of the girl. “Well, you’d best hurry, breakfast is over in half an hour.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She scurried off to the infirmary, hearing Hagrid’s find chuckle behind her.

“She’s a good lass, Professor.”

“One of the best.” McGonagall agreed, and Lily nearly glowed at the pride in her Head of House’s voice.

Her glee was dampened by the small, gray form of Remus in the bed, as her revelations about his beastly alter-ego returned. She had originally planned on pretending that she knew nothing, but once she realized that Madame Pomfrey had left, she was unable to keep it in.

She won’t even let him speak as she pours everything out to him, never giving him a chance to tell her that he understands if she doesn’t want to be around him anymore. In her candid assessment of his situation, and her pronouncement of his absolute innocence in the matter, Remus finds a different sort of acceptance.

As Severus and the other young Slytherins, including Regulus, become more deeply immured in the Dark Arts, the Marauders become more outspoken and conflicts arise. Lily’s dislike for the Marauders deepens, focusing mainly on James as the unspoken leader.

She’s unaware, however, that much of the impetus behind the attacks on/fights with Slytherins comes from Sirius, who despises them on principle, and hates Snape especially because he had a choice and a reason not to go there (her) and he went anyway.bJames snaps when Lily takes a hex meant for Snape, angrily demanding an explanation for her “putting up with him.”

An uncomfortable Lily (itching hex) retorts that his head is of an average size (here Sirius snorts out that his nose is not but Lily ignores him, the only sign that she heard him a tossing of her head) and that _some_ friendships are based on more than a prank or two. Snape steps forward with a gloating smile at this point and James, livid, throws him off his feet, taking Lily with him, before stalking off to keep from hurting her in his temper, Sirius on his heels, glaring daggers at Lily.

Remus remains behind, shaking his head at Lily, clearly disappointed. “You ought to know better, Lily.” Remus’ voice is quiet, but Lily feels the impact more strongly than if he had shouted. He follows Sirius and James, a nervously twittering Peter at his side, leaving a deeply chagrined Lily in his wake.

* * *

 

The last Hogsmeade weekend of the year, James asks out Lily for the first time.

Gryffindor has just won the Quidditch cup, and Lily is at the afterparty with Marlene and her other dormmates. Lily is yawning, ready to head off to bed, when James finds her.

She brushes him off, heading for the stairs, but he stops her. He asks her if she’ll go to Hogsmeade with him, and she flat out says no.

Dejected, James grabs onto both of her arms and says “please? Mrs. Flume would make you an extra-special cake, she loves me.”

“Who?” Is all Lily can manage at his earnest gaze.

As he continues to speak, telling her about how she and her husband own Honeydukes and how he’s going to buy it from them after Hogwarts, and how they have tons of sweets in the back, she realizes that he’s drunk. When he asks her out the next time, sloppily landing a kiss on her cheek, she is kinder in her response.

“I’m afraid not, James. I have plans already.” She gently removes his hands and pats him awkwardly on the shoulder before heading up to her dorm. In the morning, all he will remember is that she called him James.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some notes on the characters-- I haven't made anyone up out of nothing, everyone is either in the HP canon or a logical possible relation.  
> Quirrel’s birth year is unknown, so I decided to make him a fifth-year.  
> Lottie Fletwock is the (imaginary, I made her up) daughter of Laurentia Fletwock, who breeds winged horses and therefore campaigns against broomsticks.   
> Mundungus Fletcher is only known to have been born prior to 1962; since seems older than the Marauders would have been, I made him a seventh year here.   
> Daisy Hookum really was a witch who wrote a book called My Life as a Muggle.   
> Greta Catchlove was in their year, and wrote Charm Your Own Cheese.   
> Dahlia Fleur-Peri was an opera singer and Slug Club member who attended Hogwarts at an unknown time prior to the 1990s.  
> Trelawney’s birthdate is unknown (simply pre-1962), so I made her a seventh year.   
> Ambrosius (I gave him an imaginary Missus) Flume owns Honeydukes.


	6. 1975-1976: Fifth Year

Lily and Severus are ecstatic after finding out that they are Prefects in their Hogwarts letters. Upon arriving at school they meet up with the other prefects on the train, and Lily is glad to find that Remus is her partner from Gryffindor, while Severus looks on sourly, holding in comments about the inappropriateness of having animals in a position of power.

Snape’s partner, Ursula Flint, comments with disgust that the standards for prefects are falling. How could they appoint a Mudblood? Severus offers her a tight smile, but does not refute this comment.

* * *

 

Lily goes on her first date with Amulius MacMillan the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year.

He was a Hufflepuff, but she felt she didn’t know him well enough to turn him down. Sometimes, Lily’s kindness was to her detriment.

Both James and Severus spent a little too much time observing her while they were there. It was quite possibly the first time Snape had ever attended a Hogsmeade weekend without being accompanied by Lily herself.

The date goes terribly. Amulius never lets her speak, and he constantly prattles on about school subjects and thing related to Pureblood society, and Lily is bored to tears. She’s rescued by Benjy Fenwick, another Gryffindor in their year that she had worked with on occasion in Herbology.

“Lily! Thank Merlin. We’ve got a bit of a situation with our Herbology project.”

“What?” Lily doesn’t understand at first.

Amulius is looking at the menu on the wall outside Madame Puddifoot’s and Benjy gestures to him not-so-subtly with his head. Lily catches on.

“Oh, no! Amulius!” He turns, surprised to hear her voice. “I have to go. Something’s happened with our Herbology project. I told you not to work on it without me! What if you’ve killed them?”

She bemoans Benjy’s skills for dramatic effect. He gives her a sharp look, and she smiles wickedly.

“I’m so sorry to cut this short, but my grade is on the line!”

“Never fear, fair Lily. You can make it up to me some other day.”

He goes in towards her face, and Lily panics, grabbing him up in a hug instead.

“Goodbye!”

She drags Benjy off by the hand, not stopping her mad dash until they are well out of Amulius’ sight. They are both breathing a little harder at this point and Benjy drops to the ground in an alley, leaning against the wall. They look at each other for a moment, and Benjy begins to laugh. Lily looks affronted for only a moment before joining in. She sits across from him as they laugh, the tensions from the previous situation evaporating.

“I wasn’t aware you lacked such confidence in my Herbological skills, Miss Evans.” Benjy tries for offended, failing miserably.

“Oh, Benjy, thank you so much! I thought my brain was going to melt out of my ears.”

Lily reaches across the alley to pat his hand as she says this, before flopping back against the wall as they giggle some more.

“Well, Evans, there’s only one thing left to do.”

“What’s that?”

“Plan how you’re going to ‘make it up’ to me.” He lowers his voice suggestively as he says it, rubbing a hand over his chest in a lewd gesture, and she tosses her bag at him.

“Oh, stop it. I thought I was going to pass out when he said that. How am I supposed to stop him?”

“You could, I dunno, say no, maybe?” Benjy says it as though it was the obvious thing in the world, which it maybe should be, Lily has to concede, but she just can’t think of it that way.

“It’s not that easy. He’s really never been anything but nice to me.”

“Doesn’t mean you have to marry the bloke! Merlin, Evans, I thought you were intelligent.” Lily is riled at this, snatching back her bag by its strap and rising, dusting herself off.

“Well, if that’s how you feel, then—”

He cuts her off, standing as well and waving his hand. “Nah, forget it, You’re too nice for your own good.”

“I resent that statement.” She says it very matter-of-factly, and he grins, his boyish features so jolly she can’t help but smile back.

“You’ll get used to it, Evs.”

He reaches up to throw his arm around her shoulder and they head back up to the castle, joking all the way.

They are striking together— strikingly odd. Benjy is short and compact, with sandy hair and very tan skin, dimpled cheeks and eyes a little too wide. He dresses very sharply, hair combed and shirt tucked, not a fold out of place, while Lily flows everywhere. From the curls in her long hair to her billowing blouse and flared jeans, she is free and feminine. They are absolutely nothing alike.

Potter and Snape both burn with jealousy as they go, not able to appreciate the comic value of the pair as they stagger, badly mismatched, up the path. This is the beginning of a friendship that would last for the rest of their short lives.

* * *

 

On the first night, after the prank during the feast at which the teachers turned red, gold, and blue, James shows the others his stag form that he had managed to perfect over the summer.

Sirius is a bit petulant, as he was unable to practice under the cruelly watchful eye of his mother over the summer, but he warms to the idea as he takes in the odd look of James’ antlers, not yet fully developed. He comments “Nice rack”, earning him a head-butt from James.

“They look like fuzzy fork prongs. You molting, James?”

The stag charges. Sirius jumps and dances away, laughing.

“Calm yourself, Prongsy, no need to fuss.” He barks a laugh as James rears. “Prongs! Like Moony.”

Within the next week, Padfoot is born. They decide to do their first trial night without Peter, who has yet to gain his full form, but the day of, a rat comes scampering in on James and Sirius as they make plans for sneaking out. Sirius groans when he sees it, pulling out his wand to eradicate it, but it squeaks frantically, running from side to side and shooting off towards Peter’s bed.

James stays his hand, staring at the strange creature.

“Pete?”

Sirius scoffs.

“No way is that—” but the rat reappears, getting up on its hind legs.

“All right!” James is ecstatic. “Nice going, mate.”

They are examining Peter’s form, trying to think of a name, when Remus enters, tired and drawn, dropping off his books before heading to the Infirmary. He makes a sound of disgust when he sees Peter’s tail peeking out from behind his trunk. He mutters about worms and how it’s not sanitary to feed your pets in the dorms as he goes to pick it up… only to find a rat!

He drops Peter in shock, and the others stop him from cursing the rat as they roar with laughter. Remus shudders.

“A rat? That’s bollocks, Pete. Your tail looks like a bloody worm.”

The other boys are shocked at first— Remus very rarely uses foul language, although it does increase around the full moon. James recovers first.

“Worm-tail! That’s it! Moony, you’re a genius.”

And so the last of the Messrs was born.

* * *

 

Remus is ill, so Lily is doing rounds alone. She is attacked from behind by unknown Slytherins. Severus had been following her at a safe distance, aware that it was dangerous for her to patrol alone but not willing to try to stop her for fear of her temper. When he arrives, she is on the floor. Not knowing what exactly had been done to her, he rushes her to the infirmary, knocking on the door before casting a Disillusionment Charm on himself and backing into the shadows. He leaves when Madame Pomfrey locks the door after her with a mistrustful glance along the deceptively empty hallway.

Lily awakes, confused, to find Potter dozing in between her bed and Remus’. She tries to remember but happened, but cannot recall. Panicky, she calls for Madame Pomfrey, but Potter jerks awake instead. He explains what he knows. Lily is shocked, having not considered the idea that someone might hurt her. She had been Stunned, and “Mudblood” had been crudely cut into her left arm using magic. She looked at it, a white scar already where the cuts had been.

The next day, Avery and Mulciber are found mysteriously affixed to the Quidditch goal posts after lunch. James was notably absent from that meal. Lily never mentions it.

* * *

 

Lily has been growing frustrated as James’ behavior grows more and more contradictory. He has been saving first years from Slytherins, protecting the weak, and tutoring younger students— as well as pranking more, picking fights with Slytherins, and breaking hearts. She grudgingly admits a sort of admiration for him to Alice when she’d been teasing her about boys, trying to get her to confess to a crush.

Sirius has been growing darker and more distant. Always aloof, with something of a bad-boy reputation and persona, he has become more withdrawn and quicker to anger. His home life has deteriorated greatly and Regulus has pulled away completely.

Peter grows more pathetic— the aging and maturation of the others has thrown into sharp relief his mediocrity. He tries to compensate for this by egging them on in all that they do. Sirius often grows frustrated with him, always the lowest on patience.

* * *

 

Snape’s worst memories occur. Although he would later see her dead, nothing would compare to the knowledge that he had hurt her and she would never forgive him for it.

Lily is understandably miserable, despite the front she puts up in Snape’s presence.

She finds herself receiving comfort from a very unlikely quarter— Regulus Black. She is hiding out in the Astronomy Tower, playing with Severus’ owl, Archelirion, whose attachment to her is similar to that of its master. Unbeknownst to Lily, who has always called the owl Liri, this is the name of the subgenus of her favorite type of lily, the goldbanded lily.

She doesn’t notice the slight, dark boy until he speaks, a cold, detatched voice so different from that of his brother.

“Didn’t suppose he had it in him. Bella will be pleased that he has broken ties with you at last.”

After the initial shock, Lily reacts very little to his words. He has not said them in a taunting manner, and she is so very tired. She tells him dully to go away.

“You don’t understand, Mudblood.” His voice is sharper now, and the insult slips off of his lips as easily as if it were a name. Lily is roused slightly by this.

“What don’t I understand, Purist?” She almost spits the word in the way that he had not.

A smirk that recalls Sirius when being particularly naughty slips across his face before his gravity returns.

“He had no choice. You conform or you die, there is no other way.” Seeming to understand that he sounds sympathetic, he clarifies, making it clear that he is one of _them_. “We have been tolerant of his infatuation, but that is done. He is one of us now.”

Lily is growing upset, and chokes out a harsh, “I’m well aware!”

“Are you really?” Regulus looks at her speculatively. “I know he will try to return to you. If you ever cared for him at all, you will push him away. There is no going back, Mudblood. Not for us.”

Even though his words are harsh, final, the word holds no bite, no hate. It is just there, empty. Before Lily can come up with any suitable reply to his weighty statement he is gone, disappearing as quickly as he came, and her mind is made up.

* * *

 

As Lily is coping with this loss, another blow falls in the form of the death of her grandmother.

Her parents are away in Ireland, arranging things, so she is informed by Petunia. The letter is short and cold. The memorial service has already occurred and her inheritance will be sent “with one of those filthy birds”.

Lily is shell-shocked and rises from the table with her things, ignoring her friends as she strides towards the exit, eyes pricking with tears. A jeer and a trip jinx from Regulus send her running from the Hall and propel Sirius out of his seat in fury. James drags him from the Hall, trying to keep him calm. Sirius flings him off and stalks away, going to the lake, only to find a distraught Evans already there.

She’s sitting on the ground tossing stones into the water, at first skipping them, but as her pace increases, so do the force of her throws until she is scraping at the ground, flinging anything she can get her hands on with all her might. Perturbed, Sirius stops her, crouching at her side and forcing her hands still.

“What’s the matter, Evans?”

“Well, my grandmum is dead, my sister hates me, my best friend hates me, and oh, half the school wishes I was dead! I dunno, what could possibly be wrong!”

She is fierce and scathing, curls sticking to hear tear-tracked face, but Sirius is basically unsympathetic.

“Join the club.”

Sirius’ voice is bitterly matter-of-fact as he plops down next to her. When she is silent he sighs and begins to tell her about his family. By the time he finishes his arms, wrapped around his knees, are tense, fists clenched, and his head hangs down.

Lily lays a tentative hand on his back. He stiffens, but she doesn’t remove it. In an attempt to comfort him, she begins, haltingly, to tell him what Regulus said to her, and his head comes up as he whirls around, gray eyes blazing.

“That’s a lie! Cowards, the both of them! Look at me, Lily—hell, look at Andromeda! She was even in Slytherin and she made it out. There’s always a way, Evans, always. They just don’t care about us enough to find it.”

Suddenly Sirius seems less terrifying and strong and more like a lost little boy. Lily sees what she has never seen before— that beneath it all Sirius is a troubled, neglected young man who had once given love freely, to get none in return.

Tears slip down her face, not just for herself, but for that little boy that would never get what he deserved. She reaches out to him again, incapable of letting him hurt like this alone, heart aching to be there for that little boy, and covers his fist with a trembling white hand, squeezing gently before copying him to glare out at the Lake.

“I haven’t anyone left to care for.” Her voice is so quiet a normal person would not have heard, but his dog-ears catch it.

His voice surprises her when he speaks, gruff as it is. “You’ve a whole tower full of family, Evans. They not enough for you?”

Her face softens as she turns to look at him, the dullness in her eyes lessening somewhat as this idea sinks in. When the pleading note in his voice registers, her look turns almost maternal, as he asks for reassurance that the makeshift family he has found there is real.

“We have, haven’t we?” Her voice is full of tears, and he looks up at her inclusion of him. “But how can it replace— I mean, flesh and blood, or even years of— Severus, he—” she breaks off, a harsh breath revealing how close she is to tears. She turns to him, rising to her knees to question, feverish in her grief. “Does it ever go away?”

She doesn’t feel as though she has to elaborate, and he understands perfectly.

“I reckon not, Evans.”

Her face falls, and his harsh sigh scares away some birds on the shore.

“You’ll forget eventually. There’ll be others, worth more. Some bonds are deeper, some— some things are thicker than blood.”

She knows that he’s talking about James, and it fills her with a longing that brings a frown to her face even as she notes with vague amusement his knowledge of the Muggle phrase. She wants so badly to understand it, to feel what it is they share. It pains her to admit, but she’s not sure that’s what she and Severus had.

Maybe it was different, both being boys— after all, the knowledge that Severus had deeper feelings for her than she for him had been hanging over her head for a while. The sorrow she’s repressed that the loss of her far-off grandmother had brought up suddenly resurfaced, the grief welling up in a great wave that she thought would carry her away. But the tense boy at her side grounds her, and she simply puts her head down to her purple, freckled knees, socks and skirt fallen away, and cries. Sirius sits still as stone, silent and unobtrusive, but she is comforted, somewhat, by his presence.

* * *

 

The first week of summer break, Sirius’ parents are fed up with him, and Bellatrix tortures him. He runs away. James’ family takes him in and his uncle Alphard secretly gifts him with his bike, proud of his nephew. By August, Alphard is dead, Sirius is rich, and both of them have been blasted off the family tree.

* * *

 

The Marauders visit Remus for the full moon, unwilling to let him suffer it alone. He presents them with a blank map of Hogwarts as a thank you for all they’ve been for him.

The four spend all summer working to animate it. Lily is an inadvertent participant, assisting when Remus owls her for help. He wants to know if she knows of a locator spell they could use.

This makes her sad because her automatic response is to ask Severus, but they aren’t friends anymore. She gives them “homenum revelio” but says that it doesn’t give location. She mentions that “specialis revelio” and “informous” are related. She thinks that “informus nomen” or “nomen revelio” might give them names, while “locatus revelio” might give them specific locations, but that there would be no real way to know what the location was without something to view it with.

She’s very sure to say that all of this is speculation on her part— her Latin studies in Muggle school giving her ideas for creating spells. This too makes her long for Severus, and his spell-creating expertise.

Severus had tried to contact her several times over the summer, but she hid out in her house, not speaking to him. Both had an equally miserable summer. She is lonely, shut up in her house, her parents busy and Petunia always out. Alice, Marlene, and Emmeline owl her, worried about her safety with Severus so near.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Character notes:  
> Ursula Flint is the name of a 19th-century witch; as the Flint name is still active in Harry's era, I figured it was not unreasonable to assume that a female Flint, named after her ancestress, could exist in this period.  
> Amulius MacMillan is, of course, related to Ernie-- father or uncle, doesn't really matter which.


	7. 1976-1977: Sixth Year

Lucinda Talkalot is Quidditch Captain of Slytherin. Emma Vanity was the captain before. James is Captain for Gryffindor.

* * *

 

With Severus no longer a boundary between her and the other Gryffindors, Lily grows closer to her housemates, finding several good friends, but there is still a hole left by Severus.

* * *

 

Blood tensions and prejudice is growing. Lily can no longer patrol on her own after another attack, this by Rosier and Wilkes. The worst part of it was that Severus was there— he stood by and did nothing.

It is the night after the full moon, Lily always insisting that Remus rest instead of patrol for two days around the full moon in either direction. James appears out of nowhere and defends her, backing them down the hallway and around the next corner before grabbing her and retreating into a nearby secret passage. He heals her wounds, and she finds her feelings towards him thawing.

He ruins the tender moment by cheekily asking her out. She flushes to the roots of her hair and wrenches herself out of his grasp. He follows her easily, not letting her go in case she encounters more Slytherins.

* * *

 

Remus is growing depressed. He, of course, possesses all of the same hormones as other teenage boys, increased, even, because of the high-instinct nature of the wolf, but he feels as though he cannot get close to a girl.

He doesn’t tell the other Marauders his feelings, citing studies and lack of interest as the reasons for his lack of romance. He was sure, quite rightly, that they wouldn’t understand. It is in this capacity that Lily becomes a special comfort to him.

She says that she understands, and she does, better even than he’d thought. As the prejudice grows worse still, the few Muggleborns at the school are under constant duress, and anyone who associates with them is as well. The teachers do their best to keep it to a minimum, but the upper-level students are left mostly to fend for themselves.

Even if there was someone that Lily really wanted to date, she couldn’t bear to put them in that kind of danger. Remus is not willing to risk a girl’s safety by allowing her to get romantically involved, despite Lily’s repeated assurances that it’s unlikely that the girl would ever be hurt by him.

Indeed, as Lily was well aware, it was as much about Remus feeling unworthy of the affection as anything. He had always felt as though he was worth less, was less human and therefore less important than the rest of the student population. Lily tries to make him see, citing Hagrid and Professor Flitwick as examples of successful people who are actually less human than he! Lily stops pushing after their first conversation about it, watching as even Remus’ practiced control began to fray, and understanding that this causes him a lot more grief than he wants to let on.

* * *

 

The Dark Lord is out in the open, and people are disappearing or showing up dead left and right. Every day the paper reports more and more random attacks on Muggles, and Lily grows worried for her parents and sister. Her only comfort is in the closeness of Severus’ family, hoping that their proximity will keep evildoers at bay.

* * *

 

With tensions growing and instances of magical conflict on the rise, the atmosphere and offerings of Hogwarts were constantly changing throughout the 1970’s.

Beginning in 1975, a “special elect” class was offered for high-level sixth and seventh-year students— known only as the Special Defense class, the limited number of spots quickly became highly coveted among the eldest students.

The inaugural class was made up mostly of Ravenclaws— who else looks into extra classes late in the year?— setting a high bar for the curriculum but failing to develop any way to practice practical application. The competition for the class in its second year, however, was fierce. Fights were breaking out between students (primarily Gryffindors and Slytherins, as one may imagine) on a daily basis, and even Lily had to admit that books could only teach so much.

The need for more than could be offered in a schoolroom combined with the friendly competition within most of the class to spawn a sort of dueling club. While not officially sponsored by any teacher, it was understood that as long as matches took place in public areas, the club would not be disbanded. The matches grew to be something of a spectacle within the school— some enterprising students (such as the Prewett twins) made a small fortune selling related items.

Several of the Ravenclaws became entrenched in the world of professional dueling, and after weeks of pleading and cajoling the class was given leave to take a field–trip to the annual Dunstable Dueling Championship.

An attack occurs while they’re there, and the Gryffindors from the class separate from the others, banding together to defend the masses. Lily is the first to speak.

“Who’s already read the chapter on group dueling?”

The slightly sarcastic question breaks the tense silence of the tight group and they scatter as the Death Eaters come nearer, working in small groups and pairs, fighting back to back or side by side. Lily and James are protecting a group of pre-Hogwarts children when Lily, panting, says that they can’t continue this way, it’s too dangerous.

“I told you.” James had tried briefly to convince Lily and the other girls to find the teacher and return to school, but they’d refused.

“Not for me, you prat.” He turns away, assuming that they’re done, but she stops him.

“Wait— Sirius can apparate, yeah?”

“Yeah…”

“Get him, will you please? We’ve got to get these kids out of here.”

They appear only moments later. There are seven children in the group, and Sirius takes them to Hogsmeade two at a time. On the last, he and James exchange a look, and suddenly Lily find herself in pinched and whirled as she’d brought along. Sirius disappears before she can stop him.

Lily is absolutely seething with rage, and she shakes, her hair crackling as she sputters incoherent curses. The children start to back away, frightened, and her attention is caught as the little girl to her left suddenly turn bright orange- the color of the sparks along her hair. She looks at her in shock as her little storm calms.

Suddenly what’s happened hits her and she takes them to Aberforth, whom she’d met quite by accident once while escaping some Slytherins. She uses the Floo to talk to Dumbledore, who comes through and takes her with him back to the battle.

Lily immediately charges back into the fray, seeing that more Death Eaters seem to have arrived and that a considerable number of people are now on the ground. Lily has taken out one Death Eater already and is dueling a second when she hears someone shout “Sectumsempra!” and she freezes— that was Severus’ curse. In that moment’s pause she is hit with the Transmogrifian Torture Curse, used generally by those who cannot produce a powerful enough Cruciatus. It causes lightning fast modifications to the body, an extremely painful process for those not natural Metomorphaguses.

Even as she writhes with pain from the changes and tries to throw off the curse, to move, to something, an image of that little orange-turning girl pops unbidden into her head. Sirius, upon seeing the situation, Banishes Lily, [A/N: I'm not sure why I chose Banishing] taking her out of the line of fire and breaking the curse. Unfortunately, she is propelled right into the blast of an object that had just been Confringo-ed.

At this point, Order members and Aurors have arrived and the battle is coming to a close, Death Eaters disappearing with swirls of their eerie robes left and right. At this point, Dumbledore, who has managed unscathed through all the fighting, with his beard thrown over his shoulder and robes clutched in a wrinkled hand, Summons the students and Apparates them into his office at Hogwarts.

Remus wonders aloud how he managed to Apparate into Hogwarts as James rages at their new location, wanting to retaliate for a Jelly-fingers hex that nearly cost him his wand. Until he sees Lily, that is. She and Marlene are leaning against each other, Lily still injured and Marlene, having already been counter-cursed, recovering from an Entrail-Expeller.

All of the students, alone in Dumbledore’s office save for the old-looking Phoenix, take stock of one another. None of them are entirely unscathed, but Lily is unquestionably in the most pain, her wounds unable to be tended without a skilled Healer because of the shrapnel. She breaks the silence.

“Where are the others?”

Caradoc Dearborn scoffs, wincing as this causes his deboned shoulder to jiggle foreignly.

“Left with the teacher, cowardly gits.”

Weak as she is, Marlene is as sharp-tongued as ever.

“What’d you expect of Ravens and Snakes?” It had become a habit of the Gryffindor girls to refer to all of the houses by the animal in their name.

“No need to be cruel, Marlene. Besides, you’ve forgotten Amelia.”

Lily’s voice shows the strain of the vast expanse of injured skin— her clothes are full of holes and even burned to her skin in some places. Amelia Bones, whom Lily referred to, was the lone Hufflepuff in their class.

“Ebbelide is going to be pissed about bissing dis!” Benjy crowed thickly through his insistent runny nose.

Lily and Marlene both laugh, and then both groan, neither quite capable of moving without pain. Suddenly James reappears, no one having noticed he’d gone.

“The Headmaster’s locked us in.” Everyone begins to speak at once, exclamations of surprise, fear, and confusion echoing from every corner. “I reckon it’s to keep us from going back.”

Lily gasps painfully as his words reveal Sirius’ face, his eyes swollen shut.

“Sirius! Bring him here.”

James leads him over. Lily performs the countercurse and the swelling begins to die. She smiles, opening a cut on her lip, saying, “Well, it’s not perfect, but it’ll do. Who else has a curse that’ll heal easy?” She starts to struggle to sit up, but Remus stops her.

“Rest, Lily, James and I can take care of it.”

She gives very little protest, in a lot of pain. Sirius kneels next to Lily as his eyesight returns. He apologizes gruffly for sending her into the blast.

“That was you?” He nods his head shamefully. “Thank Merlin you did. I don’t think I could have stood that curse another minute.”

He is surprised by her complete lack of blame for him.

“Lily?” She looks up at him again, arching a singed eyebrow. “Mind if I check something real quick?”

She shakes her head, dropping it back down to the floor and shutting her eyes. When he starts to lift up her robes, she tenses and opens them again, but decides against protesting. Sirius makes a frustrated noise.

“James, mate? Come here, I can’t see clear enough.”

James stands, making his way over from where he’d been healing Benjy’s shriveled ears. “What is it, Padfoot?”

James takes pause at the way Sirius is holding Lily’s robes. Sirius is unabashed.

“I need you to look at this mate,” he lowers his voice, “sometimes the curse he was using on her can leave disfigurements. Check, will you?”

James does so, looking at her legs, about to proclaim them normal until her realizes that the skin doesn’t seem quite smooth under her knee-high socks.

“Evans?” He calls towards her face. “Mind if I take these off?”

She groans her assent. He pulls them down, gasping a bit at the rough, mottled skin.

“Shit.”

“Shit is right!” This time it’s Marlene, over James’ shoulder. “What the hell happened?”

Marlene reaches down to touch the skin, and Lily jerks in pain. The skin ripples where touched, changing form. James shuts his eyes as he directs his wand at Lily, Stunning her. At Marlene’s defensive stance, he runs his hand tiredly through his hair.

"It’s for the best. When she wakes up she’ll be good as new."

Soon enough Madame Pomfrey has arrived, taking care of Benjy’s Bogey Curse, curing Sirius’ remaining conjunctivitis, and, upon taking in Lily’s condition, instructs the rest to follow her to the infirmary. They all would have come anyway.

She sets to work on Lily as McGonagall works through the remaining injuries— James’ gashes, Remus’ welts from a Stinging Hex, and getting Caradoc Skele-Gro for his deboned shoulder.

“Mr. Dearborn, you’ll have to stay overnight. Ms. McKinnon, here is some Replenishing Potion, go back to your dorm, take it, and get some sleep. The rest of you may go.”

Sirius and James linger, and Remus stays with them. McGonagall, who was going to assist with Lily, turns back to them with her best glare.

“Can I help you?”

Sirius and James try to charm her into letting them stay, Sirius citing that her worst injuries were his fault, and James that she’d want to see a friendly face when she woke.

“Absolutely not! Come back in the morning.” When the boys protested, she became stony. “Not another word. Miss Evans requires a great deal of care, and she deserves privacy.”

It’s then that the boys realize that Pomfrey has been cutting off some of her clothing. This time they respectfully file out. In the morning, they are there when Lily wakes, meeting Severus heading away from the Hospital Wing. Suspicious and antagonistic, they jeer at one another, but do not stop. They are there when she wakes. She is not upset at the blast or the Torture curse. She’s very grateful to Sirius.

“If I’d have stayed under that curse any longer, my whole body would likely have been like my legs. It would’ve been harder to reverse too. In a way, the cuts and such took my mind off the weird achy feeling from the curse, too. Don’t feel bad. Besides, maybe it was a good experience to have.”

Even for an optimistic person like Lily, that was a bit much. The look the boys exchanged was not lost on her.

“You know what I mean,” she laughed, “now I know that I can take it. It wasn’t pleasant, but I think it could’ve been worse. I’m just glad it’s over and we’re all safe.”

Before the boys can respond, Madame Pomfrey bustles in, and immediately shoos them away.

“Who said you lot could be here? Get to class! Miss Evans needs her rest!”

A worried Alice came to visit her later, with Marlene and a fuming Emmeline in tow. Frank and Emmeline had had a project to work on and weren’t able to go, and both were seriously miffed. Alice didn’t partake in the dueling class, per her parents’ wishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel a little weird about the fighting scene... mostly because I'm not sure that Dumbledore really would have brought her back with him, but it is what it is!
> 
> Character notes:   
> I have the Prewett twins in here, but I'm not 100 percent sure about the timeline. Their birthdate is unknown, but Molly Prewett (later Weasley) is quite a bit older than the Marauders... thought I suppose it's not that odd for her parents to have kids many years apart.
> 
> And yes, the little orange-turning tyke is a young Tonks!


	8. Post-School, Random Tidbits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I did skip seventh year. No, I'm not sure why. I guess I ran out of steam way back when. If and when I start writing anew, I'll be sure to put a Seventh Year chapter in.

Just before going into hiding, March 1980. Lily is pregnant.

Lily wanted to go spend some time in Muggle London before they went into hiding, and James refused to allow her to go alone. They’re meandering down a street, Lily is ignoring James.

Across the way, the bells jingling on the door of a dentistry practice catch her attention. A brown-haired man fumbles with the keys to the shop while trying to keep a hold on the carrier with his infant daughter, while his wife unlocks the car. His wife is laughing, looking at the two of them, and gets halfway into the car, honking as he finally sets the child down.

“Jean!” He cries in mock disgust. She laughs, the joy in her warm brown eyes clear even across the street.

“You said you wanted to be responsible for her today! It isn’t my fault you didn’t think it through all the way!”

The two continue to joke with one another, the door all but forgotten, but Lily’s attention is on the child. Her hand moves subconsciously to her own stomach. James has continued walking, and just as she’s about to continue she stops with a gasp.

“James!” He’s at her side in a second. “Did you see that?”

He’s alert, concerned, looking for danger. Her eyes fill with tears even as she smiles. He’s confused.

“Look.” Her voice is barely above a whisper.

The baby girl in the carrier, forgotten for the moment, is clapping, her eyes, so much like her mother’s, focused on the rattle that shakes, of its own accord, in front of her. Her surprisingly full head of frizzy, wiry hair shakes with her laughter. Lily clutches his arm, turning her face into his chest.

He apparates them away in an instant. “Lily,” his voice is frantic, still unsure as to why she’s crying, “Lily, what’s the matter?”

“Matter?” She looks up, and the smile on her face gives him pause. “Nothing’s the matter. I just had almost forgotten, and—” she laughs here, even as new tears spill down her face. James is unsure of how to react. “That little girl— Merlin, a little Muggleborn— made me remember what we’re fighting for.” She’s not smiling anymore, and James gathers her up in his arms. “That there are some things _worth_ fighting for.” She takes in a great shuddering breath, all too close to a sob. “Worth _dying_ for!”

The vehemence in her voice gives him pause, and he gently pulls back, making her face him. He wipes the tears from beneath her eyes and holds her face tenderly, stroking the baby hairs at her temples.

“Not dying. Not anymore.” His hands slide down to the swell of her abdomen. “They’re worth living for, now.” She throws her arms around his neck as he speaks, burying his head into her neck, his own tears wetting her skin. “We’re done fighting for now.”

* * *

 

Fifth year, Sirius gets his first tattoo, in honor of the Marauders. Sneaks out to Hogsmeade to get it done the night he completes his transformation for the first time. On his left forearm, so he can never take the Dark Mark. He casts a permanent sticking charm on the ink, just like on his walls. So no one could even force him to take the Mark. When the others see it, James has to get one too. They badger Remus and Peter into getting them as well, but both refuse to do so in such a visible, not to mention soft, place. They get shoulder tattoos. Sirius has a paw print, James antlers, Peter rat footprints, and Remus a howling wolf head.

 

* * *

 

"I'm going to fight!"

"Lily—"

"I don't care what you say! This is my life— my world— at stake."

"You're being foolish."

"Everything. Everything I love is forfeit if those monsters win. They will take over, put me and mine lower than slaves, and **kill** _you_. Every non-magical memory or object or place or person I cherish— gone. Obliterated. Every Muggle whom I count among my family— dead. Any chance of a future— becoming a Healer, or a wife, or a mother, or a teacher— vanished. That is what they would do. Suck the life out of anything not _pure_ " — she spat this like a dirty word— "in their eyes. I have no other choice. There isn't one. There never was."

 

* * *

 

"He's going to look just like you one day." Lily hardly moved as she spoke, startling James. She didn't look up as he moved to her side, his hand joining hers stroking the shock of hair on the baby's head.

"Mm, I hope not."

Lily turned her head up to look at him, surpised at such an answer. James, with all his pride, seemed very likely to be proud of a similar son.

"I want him to look just like you." He could feel the rush of air against his hand as she laughed silently. The laughter died as he continued. "That way, whenever I look at either of you, I can see the two things I love most in the world."

Her hand stilled on Harry's small, dark head, and James' calloused hand covered hers as it began to tremble. She pulled away from the crib suddenly, not wanting to wake the baby. They barely made it to the hall before she broke down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does Lily seem weepy to you? It's weird, I'm not a cryer, but for some reason I seem to write Lily in tears a lot.


End file.
